


Take You Away

by changeishard



Category: Lost
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Murder, Reunions, These tags are confusing, happy-ish i guess
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-12 00:42:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29001666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/changeishard/pseuds/changeishard
Summary: A.U. The raft is a success, but Charlie and Claire lose each other in the middle of the reporters and family members madness. Months later, she shows up on his doorstep, but something about her is very off.
Relationships: Claire Littleton/Charlie Pace
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Hi I posted this on FanFiction.net about a million years ago, and I'm trying to understand how ao3 works so I'm posting this here too. Any help with the tagging system would be appreciated.
> 
> I still feel kinda mean about how I left this, not only because I said on the last chapter I posted that the next one would be the last, but mostly because I finished writing this fic about a year before I posted it. I just had it on a notebook, and the process of transferring it to my computer made me edit the shit out of it and even add chapters that weren't there initially. I didn't transfer the whole thing at once because I kept wanting to change things, so it was easier for me to just do it chapter by chapter. I'm scared that if I pick it up now I'm going to want to rewrite the whole thing, and I unfortunately don't think I have the patience for that. I still love Charlie and Claire as a couple, but my mind is on other things at the moment. So... yeah. I'm not sure if I'm ever going to post the ending but if I manage to not completely rewrite the last chapter as I'm going, there's still a chance. And fyi, if anything in the text here is different from the ff.net version it's because I usually keep editing my stories even after I post them. I don't know for sure if I did that on this one, but just in case I'll leave this disclaimer here. (I originally wanted to just straight up copy and paste it from ff.net but they don't allow that anymore (which is a good thing in general, just bad for me rn lmao))
> 
> Also, I find it ridiculously ironic how the last author's note on the last chapter I posted was just me saying "I hope you didn't think I had abandoned this story lol" lol indeed, I don't think I'm ever coming back from that one lmao I'm so sorry.

Charlie sat on his couch watching TV. The late night talk shows were boring him as always. Today some random celebrity talked about their new movie and was occasionally interrupted by the host’s lame jokes. Charlie felt like all of these shows had a formula. Well, he knew they did; he’d been on many; but seeing it every day made it look more obvious. Overanalyzing TV shows... that’s how most of his nights had gone by since the rescue.  
Since he last saw _her_.

He sighed. The commercial break showed a glimpse of the new special “detailed” story about the Oceanic 815 crash. Yeah, what did these people knew? Nothing at all. Nothing about the monster, nothing about the others, the withdraws... Claire.

God, Claire... he missed her. He missed imaginary peanut butter, walks on the beach, helping her up when she was pregnant, the few moments he spent with Aaron... everything they did together.

But it’s been almost a year. It’s not like he’ll ever see her again. That didn’t mean he didn’t want to. Ever since he lost her during the airport madness he’d been trying to track her down, with no avail. When he finally found a clue, he moved to Australia to find her. That was three months ago. Still no sign of her.

He sighed once again. Thunder sounds woke him from his daydream. It was pouring outside. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Charlie looked at the clock on the TV: 23:15. Who could be at this hour? Certainly it wasn’t the pizza guy, or Liam; the only two people who knew for sure that Charlie lived here. Maybe it was someone looking for the previous resident of the flat? He opened the door and in front of him stood the last person imaginable.

“Claire?”

She was soaked, Aaron asleep in her arms – my, he was huge! 

“Can I stay here for a couple days?” Charlie then noticed there was a bag on by her feet. She looked at him with pleading eyes. There was something different about them – darker perhaps. “Please?” 

“Yeah, sure. Come in.” Claire grabbed her bag and practically ran inside. Charlie closed the door behind her.

“Lock it.”

“What?”

“The door. Lock it.”

“Why? It’s a safe neighborhood.”

“Just... please, Charlie.” He locked the door and she released a breath she didn’t know she was holding. A silence followed. All you could hear was Claire’s teeth clashing with the cold. Charlie noticed that even after all this time he still wanted to just wrap her in his arms and tell her that everything was going to be okay. But of course, he couldn’t do that.

“Uh... do you want to take a shower? And put on some warm clothes?”

“That would be very nice, thank you.” He led her to the bathroom while showing her around his small flat.

“I’ll take Turniphead while you shower.”

She smiled for the first time since she arrived “He has a name, Charlie.”

“I know, but I didn’t have enough time to get used to it.” He grinned and took Aaron from her “Now you just make yourself comfortable while I make us some tea.” 

A while later, after Charlie waited for the water to boil, he sat on the couch in front of the TV. Aaron stirred and opened his eyes. The baby looked at Charlie with curiosity. He reached out and grabbed the brit’s nose. Aaron smiled and giggled. “Hey, Aaron. You are so big! Last time I saw you, you were this tiny little baby... now look at you, all grown up!” Charlie continued to play with the baby until he saw Claire standing by the couch’s end. “Oh, I didn’t see you there.”

“I just got here,” she explained “I think the tea is ready.” She sat down on the couch.

He handed Aaron back to her “I’ll go get it.”

Soon, he returned and gave her her tea. “So, how are you doing?” He asked.

“I’ve been... well, it’s complicated.” She sighed “How have you been?”

“It’s been boring for me lately. No monsters, no polar bears, nothing to do...” Claire laughed a little “How did you find me?”

“The phone book. You’re on it.”

“Why did you come here?”

She hesitated “Why don’t we leave that story for another time?” 

Charlie suddenly remembered when he said similar words to her. Now he knew how she felt. He didn’t like it. He wanted to know why she was here, after all this time. But he couldn’t push her. He’d been looking for her for so long, now that she was here, he couldn’t let her get away.  
And whatever happened was scary enough to bring her to me, he thought to himself. “Okay. It’s getting late, anyways. Let’s go to bed.”

Charlie woke up with screams coming from the spare bedroom. It was still dark outside. He ran to it, only to find Claire crying, shaking and breathing heavily. “Claire, are you okay? What happened?” She ignored him, instead choosing to get up and sooth her son, who started bawling soon after the screams started. She had no success, seeing as she was just as nervous as the baby. Charlie came up behind her “Let me.”

She handed Aaron to him and soon he stopped crying. Charlie put him down on the makeshift crib they improvised, made out of pillows. “So, you want to tell me what happened?”

“Nothing. Just a nightmare,” she said, trying to calm herself down.

“Was it about... there?” He asked, sitting down next to her on the bed.

“No.”

“Do you wanna talk about it?”

She looked at him, uncertain. She was scared, but there’s no reason to involve Charlie in this mess. He was such a sweet guy... Letting her stay without demanding a reason. For that, she was glad. “No.”

“You want me to stay up with you?”

“No, no. You don’t have to worry about me. It was just a nightmare. It wasn’t real.” Charlie noticed she was trying more to reassure herself than him. Once again, he decided it was best not to push her. 

“Okay. If you need anything, anything, don’t hesitate to wake me. I’m right next door.”

“’Kay. Thanks, Charlie.”

He got up to leave “Yeah, no problem.” He looked at her one more time to make sure she was fine. She faked a smile and he left.

“It wasn’t real,” she whispered once again and stayed up until the sun came up, absolutely terrified to close her eyes.


	2. Chapter Two

Three weeks went by. Every other night Claire had a nightmare. That was the least of Charlie’s worries. Every time he went out, no matter how many times he asked her, she would refuse to step outside the door. Not even when Charlie went to buy a crib for Aaron. Every time it was a different excuse: either too tired, or just couldn’t miss this documentary on migratory seagulls, or many other cliché responses. He was getting tired of not knowing why she was acting this way.

Something happened before she showed up at his doorstep, and whatever it was, he was going to find out. Sure, he didn’t want to push her, but not few were the times he caught her crying around the house and there were the mysterious nightmares. He couldn’t let her keep suffering in silence. He still felt like he had to keep his promise that he’d take care of her.

One night after dinner, he walked up to her while she was watching TV. “Hey. Is Aaron asleep?”

“Yeah, he’s probably down for the night.” Charlie sat on the couch next to her.

“So... I was thinking that tomorrow maybe you, me and Aaron could go to the park...”

“No,” she cut him off. He sighed.

“Claire, you’ve been here for almost a month. You have these crazy nightmares. You refuse to go outside and I don’t have a clue why you’re acting this way. What’s out there that’s scaring you so much?” 

Silence.

“Don’t you think I have the right to know?”

More silence.

“Claire...”

That’s when she started to cry. So much that Charlie had to turn off the TV; the laugh track from the sitcom she was watching suddenly seemed too cruel. He mentally kicked himself. That was why he wasn’t pushing her. “You know what? You don’t have to tell me,” he said, guiltily.

“No, you - you’re right,” Claire said between sobs. She calmed herself down before starting her tale.

“When we got rescued, and I lost you and everybody else at that airport, Thomas – that’s Aaron’s father – he found me. And I kinda got stuck with him. I don’t even know how... and he was different. Still a jerk, but now... an obsessive jerk.” She sighed, trying to fight back the newly formed tears. “He was angry all the time. And he didn’t let me do anything. I stayed 10 months at home. He was afraid that I’d run away if I went out” She laughed humorlessly “He was right.

“Then one day... we had a huge fight. He was out of control. I thought he was going to... I got scared, I didn’t know what else to do... what if he tried to hurt Aaron?” Her voice cracked and Charlie put a hand on her shoulder, urging her on. 

“I-I got it from the nightstand. It wasn’t mine, I didn’t mean to...”

“What? You didn’t mean to what?”

“I shot him. He’s – he’s dead.” She barely finished her sentence before she started sobbing again. Now it made sense to Charlie everything that she was doing. He knew very well that PTSD was a hard thing to deal with. So he reached out and held her, just letting her cry.

“They know I did it, I just know they’re after me! I can’t go out, they’ll find me...”

“Don’t worry, they won’t get you. I promise.”

“How can you say that?”

“I won’t let them.”

“So... are you still letting me stay?” She asked, surprised.

“Of course I am.”

“Why?”

His expression turned dark “Because I know how it feels.”

Then Claire remembered about Ethan. Charlie knew what it was like to kill someone who’s hurting you. It wasn’t even because of that she reached for him.

“Claire... why did you come to me? Of all people?”

She didn’t know what to answer. She didn’t even know why. Something just told her she’d be safer with Charlie. So she just scooted closer to him and cried.

“Right. How about we go to sleep now?” He felt her nod against his chest.

Later that night, Charlie was lying on his bed, eyes closed but still not asleep. To think that Claire – perfect, sweet, innocent little Claire – could take someone’s life... hell, to think she’d ever wield a gun, somehow made him sleepless. He felt like everything he knew was wrong. And now he was hiding a witness to an unsolved crime in his house and he didn’t even care. He felt more connected to her now than he ever did on the island. He wasn’t gonna let anyone take her away from him. Not again.

He froze when he heard the door opening. It took a moment for the person to walk in. In slow, light steps, as if not to wake him, the person approached the bed. Charlie was scarred beyond his mind, thinking it was a burglar, or even a cop. He almost jumped in fight when the person climbed in the bed and scooted closer to him.

“I couldn’t sleep.” It was just Claire. Now he felt stupid for thinking a burglar would climb in bed with him. He relaxed and held her closer.

“’Sokay, love. You can sleep now. I won’t let anyone get to you.” Then he thought about the last time he said that. Claire got kidnapped and god only knows what they did to her. What if the same happened now? What if they just hid here and one day they find her? He couldn’t let that happen. No one was taking her from him. They couldn’t stay here to be found.

They had to run.

“Don’t worry, Claire. I’ll take care of you. I love you.” He blurted it out without thinking. He froze once again. He didn’t even know he felt that way. Luckily, when he looked down at her, she was already asleep. “Okay. Goodnight, love.”

Somehow, a part of him was disappointed that she didn’t listen.


	3. Chapter Three

Charlie woke up to the sound of crying. He looked at Claire, who was still asleep. He smiled to himself. It looked like it was the first good night of sleep she had in months. It probably was. He got up and went to get Aaron.

“Hey, Turniphead! I see you’re an early bird, huh?”

He took Aaron to the kitchen and put him in the high chair. Charlie then prepared some mashed bananas for him. “Okay, Aaron. Open up for the plane!” He swung the spoon around, the baby’s eyes fixated on it. “It’s going in and... oh no! The plane is shaking! It’s gonna crash on the island! Boom!” Charlie made the spoon fall back on the bowl. It was enough for Aaron to start to cry. 

_What the bloody hell was I thinking?_ Charlie felt really stupid for joking like that. And with a baby.

“No, no, no! Calm down! The plane’s fine, mommy and daddy are fine, see?” He lifted the spoon again, but the baby just stared at him.

“Dada?” Aaron asked with curious eyes. Then Charlie hit himself in the head. He had barely woken up and already blurted out enough stupid things for the rest of the day.

“Dada!” Aaron repeated, more excitedly, as if he understood what Charlie meant.

“What? No, no, no dadas here.”

“Dada!”

“Shh, your mom can’t hear you say that!”

“His mom can’t hear what?” Claire appeared at the kitchen door.

“Claire! You’re up!” His voice sounded higher than he intended.

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing!”

“Dada!” Aaron said at the same time.

“What did you say, sweetie?” She asked, coming closer to the baby.

“Oh, you know babies... always blabbing nonsense.”

“Kinda like you?”

Charlie didn’t have an answer to that. He quickly walked out of the kitchen before - 

“Dada!” Aaron said, kicking and frenetically pointing to the doorway. Charlie slowly made his way back. He hoped a hole would swallow him before he got back to the kitchen. No such luck. “Claire, listen –“

“Charlie...”

“I-I didn’t meant to, it just slipped, I-I didn’t know he’d repeat that...”

“Charlie, I...”

“No, listen. I, in no way, would force that thought on Aaron, I mean, why would I? I...” This time Charlie’s babbling was silenced by Claire’s lips. “What was that for?” He asked when she pulled away.

“That was to shut you up.” She leaned in and kissed him again “This is because I don’t mind that Aaron thinks you’re his father.” She smiled and Charlie grinned in return, glad she wouldn’t try to murder him.

But soon her smile faded “That’s what’ll hurt the most when I leave.” Charlie was shocked with that statement. “I mean, I can’t stay here forever... they’ll find me.”

“I won’t let that happen.”

“It’s not up to you, Charlie.”

“No, I didn’t mean that. I’m coming with you.”

Now it was Claire’s turn to be shocked “No, I can’t ask that of you... you have your job, your family...” she said, thinking about Charlie’s job as a musician at a local bar and about his brother.

“They’d understand. I’ve been here for only three months. I have a lousy job that’s only barely enough to pay for rent. Besides, you’re not asking me anything.”

“But Charlie...”

“Nothing is going to change my mind, Claire. I’ve been looking for you ever since that day at the airport. Now that you’re here, nothing is going to stand in our way,” he replied, sure of himself.

Claire was in tears again. She knew that she’d never forgive herself if anything happened to Charlie, but the look in his eyes alone told her that he wouldn’t – or better - couldn’t let her go. He held her and they stayed that way until Aaron started to fuss, clearly feeling left out. Claire dried her eyes and took her son from the high chair “So I reckon you have a plan?” she asked Charlie.

He grinned “I do indeed.”


	4. Chapter Four

Claire surfed the TV channels, trying to find something interesting to watch, with Aaron almost asleep in her arms. The little boy was being unusually energetic that day. She didn’t know why the change in his behavior, but she was glad. It was as if he could sense that his mom was finally safe. Too bad Charlie hadn’t been home to see the baby so happy. Briefly, Claire wondered what he’d been doing... 

She stopped going through the channels for a second. She had randomly stopped at a local news station. Just in time to see a picture of Thomas on the screen.

_The police released an official statement regarding the murder of Thomas Walters, claiming that although the victim’s apartment showed signs of a break-in, it’s more likely that someone inside the household; having knowledge of the gun; shot him and ran away afterwards._

Claire froze on her spot. If she thought she had scary moments on the Island, it was nothing compared to what she felt right now. It’s like she was being watched all the time, and somehow they knew it was her, and they were coming for her. Who were they? She didn’t know, but they scared her a lot more than Ethan did.

Suddenly, she heard the sound of a key turning inside the keyhole. She cradled Aaron closer to her and quickly got on to her feet, looking at the door in panic. The moments when the doorknob was turning felt like an eternity to Claire. And then Charlie emerged from the doorway. She let out a breath she didn’t even knew she was holding. He noticed her anxious movements.

“Claire, what’s wrong?”

She didn’t reply, the reporter on the TV was faster than her.

_Neighbors of the victim claim that Mr. Walters lived alone. This man; who wishes to remain anonymous, however states that he heard sounds of a baby crying often coming from the victim’s apartment. It is unknown whether the case has any relation to the disappearance of Thomas’ long term girlfriend, Claire Littleton._

She looked back at Charlie, pure panic in her eyes. She wanted to scream at him that they were coming, but she couldn’t find her voice. Luckily, he knew what she wanted to say.

“Okay, just... look on the bright side, at least they don’t think you did it.”

Once again, she wanted to yell at him that it was just a matter of time, but he didn’t give her the chance. “Look, why don’t you put Aaron to sleep and we’ll talk about this?” She sighed and went to do as he said. Charlie quickly turned off the TV, before they could hear any other information about the case. 

Claire came back a few minutes later, still shell-shocked, but at least now she could talk “What are we going to do now? And where have you been all day?” 

“I’ve been preparing the plan. I went to this guy I knew from my... old days,” he said, referring to the seedy underworld of drug traffic “Anyways, he said he can hook you up with a new I.D..”

“Charlie, a new I.D. won’t work, they know what I look like.”

“That brings us to part one of Charlie’s Amazing Escape Plan: give you a new look,” he said, looking through the plastic bags he brought home with him for the things he bought.

Claire’s eyes widened in shock “Oh, no, no, no, I am not doing that.”

“Come on, Claire. Do you want this to work? It’s just hair dye.”

“Red hair dye, Charlie. And what are the scissors for?”

“...I don’t think there’s enough dye for all the hair... it’ll grow back, Claire.”

Claire sighed. It’s not like she never dyed her hair before... Besides, they had to do it, or they’d find her. “Alright, let’s get this over with.”

* * *

Couple of hours later, Claire was scared to look in the mirror “I don’t want to see it!”

“You have to, love,” Charlie tried to convince her.

“No, I’m never looking in the mirror ever again!”

“So you’re gonna live like a vampire?” She glared at him. He sighed “You look great. I know it must be hard for you to see your hair on the floor, or to change everything because you absolutely must... but you can do this, I know it.”

Claire took a deep breath. Then another. Then another. She turned to face the mirror, but kept her eyes closed “Open your eyes.” Slowly, Claire complied. She probably would have fallen backwards if Charlie wasn’t behind her. Her hair looked so different, she could barely believe she was seeing herself. It was red; but luckily not as red as she imagined it; and really short. She’d never had her hair so short; just above her shoulders, the length making it slightly curly. Despite the big change, Claire actually liked it.

“So, what do you think?”

“Wow,” was all she could say.

* * *

Later that night, they were discussing about destinations and names.

“Where do you want to go?” Charlie asked, sitting on the couch, Claire’s head on his shoulder. 

“I was thinking the U.S.... I mean, we have friends there and there’s the whole land of the free thing.”

Charlie frowned “I was thinking somewhere less... bureaucratic. Somewhere we could get to without needing a visa.”

“In case you haven’t noticed, the only place I can get without a visa is here.”

“Well, you. I, on the other hand, can go to the UK whenever I want.”

“The UK?”

“Yeah. We could live in London. My old flat is still there. I mean it’s not exactly proper for a baby, but once we get there, we’ll figure things out.”

Claire thought for a moment “Okay, England it is.”

“Have you thought of any names yet?” Charlie asked, worried about what name she should choose.

“How about Morticia?”

“How about something less Addams Family?”

“With this hair?” She shot back.

“What? You said you liked it! And it’s not that bad!”

“I know... but nothing really goes with it. How about Alice?”

He considered it for a moment “Nah, too... ‘follow the white rabbit’.”

Claire looked at him, confused “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Alice’s out.”

She was almost running out of ideas “Okay... what about Emily?”

Charlie pulled back to stare at her “No.”

“Why not?” 

“You just don’t look like an Emily.”

She was already getting frustrated “Well, give me ideas, then! I’m not very good with names!”

He laughed “Clearly. I mean, Aaron was Turnip Head for... what? A month?”

She rolled her eyes “He wasn’t ‘Turnip Head’.”

“So he was just ‘The Baby’, then?” He grinned.

She sighed “Just give me ideas!”

“How about... Lembas?”

Claire looked at him in disbelief. He was dead serious “...Are you kidding me?”

“What? No! It’s perfect! No one has a name like it!”

“Charlie, I’m trying to blend in!”

“...Oh, yeah. Sorry.” He thought for a while longer, Claire clearly ready to leave Charlie in the loony bin if he came up with another stupid name.

“How about Lily?”

“Lily, huh?” Claire thought about it “I liked it. Lily Littleton.”

“Love, you’re gonna need a last name too.”

She sighed “Oh, yeah. I’m afraid to ask, but what do you suggest?”

Charlie looked serious for a moment “How about Pace?”

Claire pulled away from him completely. She didn’t know what to say. She didn’t even know what they were. After the kiss happened, they haven’t really talked about their situation, and now he was suggesting a wedding. 

“It doesn’t have to be a real wedding... just on paper, so you can enter England too.”

She was a little disappointed to hear that, but she didn’t want to get into their relationship – if you could call it that – right now. They had bigger issues on their hands. “Okay. I’ll... marry you, Charlie.”

He grinned “Really?”

“Yeah... Lily Pace,” she said, testing the name out.

“I can still call you Claire if you want.”

“That would be very nice, thank you.” She put her head back on Charlie’s shoulder and they stayed like that for a while, until she remembered something “What about Aaron?”

“That’s a boy’s name, Claire.”

She giggled “No, I meant doesn’t he need a new name too? By the way, don’t you need a new name too?”

“You’re right about Aaron, but I don’t need a new name.”

“Why not?”

Have you ever told anyone about me? Or have you seen pictures of us together on the tabloids, like Jack and Kate that one time?”

“No, not really.”

“Then, we’re safe, love.”

“Now we need a name for Aaron.” Charlie opened his mouth “Charlie is out.” He pretended to be hurt for a moment and Claire playfully hit him on the chest with the back of her hand. They continued suggesting names until they both fell asleep on the couch, holding each other tightly.


	5. Chapter Five

The next days were very hectic for both of them.

After much coaxing, Charlie was able to make Claire go out to take new pictures and sign the documents for her new identity. She thought about buying new clothes, but that idea died the moment she saw her face on a ‘missing persons’ flyer.

Apparently, the police still didn’t think of her as a suspect. She couldn’t decide if that was a good or a bad thing. She thought the investigators would be quicker to catch the clues. This was a bad thing; if Claire was actually a dangerous person on the loose she could have killed many other people already. But she wasn’t dangerous, so maybe it’s a good thing they still hadn’t caught on. 

It gave Claire enough time to plan her great escape.

* * *

Charlie, on the other hand, was busy taking care of their plane tickets, passports and documents in general. He called his cousin to check if his apartment was still there and, most importantly, still his. Luckily it was, so Charlie set his mind on the next thing he had to do.

“Are you sure about this, Baby Brother?” Liam asked as soon as Charlie told him of his plans. The last important thing he had to do was to tell his brother he was going back to England.

“Yes, Li. I guess I miss home, that’s all,” He replied. He hadn’t told his brother why he moved to Australia in the first place.

“I understand.” Liam sighed “I miss home too, sometimes.” 

Charlie suddenly had a flashback to the last time he was at his brother’s backyard, watching Megan playing in the sandbox. The day before the plane crash. He remembered how ‘home’ was such an abstract thing for him; he didn’t have one back then. Not even around his brother he felt home. It was like he didn’t have a constant in his life, nothing that tied him down in one place. Only the drugs mattered, but they kept him going from place to place without a real purpose. 

Then came the plane crash and Charlie felt more lost than before. 

Until he saw Claire.

Charlie never thought he’d feel this way about anyone. He didn’t think he deserved to feel this way, after all the bad things he’s done. But, against all odds, it seemed that Claire liked him too, letting him hang out with her and even play with her son after he was born.

Their time together on the island was little, but it was where Charlie had felt home for the first time since he was a little boy.

Liam was wrong. Home isn’t a geographic location. It is the place where the people you love are. Liam was already home with Karen and Megan; and Charlie had just found his again with Claire and Aaron.

“By the way, did you hear about that missing girl? I saw on the news that she was on your plane,” Liam asked Charlie after a moment of silence.

The younger brother tensed up “Really? I didn’t see it.”

“Yeah, she went missing after her boyfriend was murdered, I was wondering if you knew her. Her name is Claire...something.”

“Claire?” He pretended to think for a while “No, I don’t remember her,” he brushed it off.

“Oh, I figured that in a sodding plane crash you’d all know each other.”

“There were over forty people, Li, I didn’t have time to meet everyone!” Charlie suddenly snapped.

“Calm down, Charlie! If I didn’t know better, I’d say you’re hiding this girl somewhere,” he said playfully. 

Charlie went wide-eyed and tried to find words to say, but failed. He wanted to tell him about Claire, he really did. But it was too risky. Not that he didn’t trust Liam, but the fewer people in the know the better.

“Charlie, it was just a joke, are you okay?” Liam said, concerned.

“Yeah, brilliant,” he replied, still a bit tense.

“Are you sure? You’re not using again, are you?” 

Charlie rolled his eyes at the whole big-brother concern “No, Liam, I am not using.”

He eyed his younger brother suspiciously for a moment, before deciding that he was telling the truth “Okay. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Charlie said smiling. “You’re just looking out for me.”

Liam smiled back “I’m going to miss you, Baby Brother.”

“I’m gonna miss you too,” Charlie said and got up to hug his brother tightly. 

Despite everything that happened, all the fights and the bitterness in between, Charlie still loved his brother dearly. And he was surely going to miss having him living so close to him.

_Maybe a person could have more than one home_ , he pondered.


	6. Chapter Six

Claire couldn’t sleep. She tried to lay her head back and relax, but that was impossible. She had already packed, Aaron was asleep - and for the looks of it he was going to sleep through the whole night. She decided to get up and check if she’d forgotten anything. When she turned on the lights she remembered that she’d already done that.

She walked around the house a few times – quietly, so as to not disturb anyone. She went to the kitchen and opened the cabinets and the fridge. She wasn’t hungry, she just did it so she had something to do.

She tried to watch TV, but she couldn’t focus. She went through the few books on Charlie’s shelf and picked out a random one. Still couldn’t focus. Guess she already knew that, but at least reading the titles and figuring out more about his personality through his books gave her something to think about.

She quickly got restless again and decided to check on Aaron. Still asleep.

_Sigh._

Claire would do anything to be able to sleep. A blank sleep, no dreams or nightmares. That kind of sleep you have after a whole day of running and tiring yourself. But she couldn’t have that. Her brain wouldn’t shut up. She tried her best to distract it; ignoring the little voice in her head listing all the things that could go wrong.

But it was no use. She was terrified.

She looked at the clock: 1 AM.

 _Still?_ She thought. Their plane would leave at noon. Somehow she felt like this would be the longest night of her life. Maybe even longer than the night she came to live with Charlie.

That certainly felt like it would never end. 

Claire would never forget the hours between her argument with Thomas and the moment she knocked on Charlie’s door. She would never forget Thomas’ altered voice. The moment she had enough. The cold feel of the gun in her hands. The look on his face as he drew his last breath. The desperation to get out of there. The frenetic drive with nowhere to go. Aaron’s cries. The rain. The fear that took over her when she got rid of the gun. Her search for anyone that could help her. The relief when she read Charlie’s name on the phone book. 

Everything flashed before her eyes, even in the dullest of the moments. She didn’t want to think about it. But she couldn’t escape from it. 

She looked at Aaron again, asleep in his crib, oblivious to everything. Claire envied him. She wanted to be oblivious. She didn’t want to be a part of this. She didn’t mean for any of this to happen. She wanted to just become numb and forget everything – much like had happened on the island.

Suddenly, Claire was overcome with an unexplainable fear. She couldn’t be alone anymore. She tried her best not to disturb Charlie, but she simply couldn’t control it.

She went over to his room – funny how they were married now, but still slept in separate rooms. To her surprise, he was still awake.

“Hey. What’s wrong, love?” Charlie looked up as soon as she walked in.

“Nothing... I just... though I’d come here.”

“What for?”

Claire didn’t want to worry Charlie. She even thought about making a joke out of the situation, but she sensed he’d see right through her. There was no use in lying now “I’m scared.”

She started to cry and sat down on the bed next to Charlie. He put his arms around her and she promptly buried her head in his chest. He lifted her chin with his hands “Hey.” He made her look into his eyes “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

The way he said these words made Claire want to believe in him. He sounded so convincing... But she was still unsure. She knew Charlie would do anything to protect her. But she still couldn’t understand why.

“Why, Charlie? Why are you doing this?”

“Doing what?”

“ _This._ Everything you do for me... I killed a man, I’m an emotional train wreck... and you don’t judge me... you even want to run away with me. Why?”

Charlie couldn’t help but chuckle a little. “Why are you laughing? This is not funny!” She hit him in the chest, annoyed at his response.

“Ouch! Sorry, Claire.” He stopped laughing and looked deep into her eyes “It’s just funny that you don’t see it.”

She furrowed her brow, confused “Don’t see what?”

Charlie shrugged “That I... love you.”

Claire was more than surprised. She guessed that maybe a part of her has always known this, but hearing him saying it was different. “What?”

He smiled “How did you not know? I married you!”

“But I thought...”

“I know that it was kind of necessary but... I still carry a bit of my religious views... and if I ever got married, it’d only be once. And to the woman I love.”

Claire thought it was crazy that he’d think that. But it was also sweet. Suddenly she couldn’t picture her life without him. If it weren’t for him... god only knows what would’ve happened to her and Aaron. And this is not even the first time. “Charlie...”

He waited for her to finish. Instead, she kissed him. It wasn’t a kiss like before – chaste, careful – but there were a lot of feelings implicit in it. Gratitude. Trust. Love. Desire. On both parts there was a longing. Something to say both have been waiting, dreaming of this for a long time. Charlie surprised himself when he broke the kiss. He wanted this. He’s wanted this for a long time, but he feared that she was doing this out of an impulse. He didn’t want their first time to be like this. “Claire...”

“I love you too,” she whispered, and she meant it. 

“Are you sure you want to do this?” He asked, not wanting to hurt her by rushing things.

She looked at him, deep inside his eyes, and whispered her assent “Yes.” 

He finally caved in. He could see it in her eyes now. Maybe the reason it took him so long to figure it out was that he hasn’t seen love in a long time. He put her on her back on the bed and kissed her.

And so Claire finally found some comfort for the night. 

And she had nothing else to fear. 

At least for tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this is all I've got so far. I hope no one judges me too hard for this, since I was 16 when I wrote it and idk it feels like the fanfiction world back then was completely different. It feels like people are judged to higher standards now. I don't think this is even close to a good thing I've written, and I honestly cringed at the bits and pieces I read while posting this, but I still want this to be up. It was the first thing I've ever posted, and I got good feedback back in the day, it made me really happy. I guess the sentimental value wins out at the end of the day, even if I personally don't even like this fic that much anymore. Sadly, the fanfic I liked the best is the one that's never seeing the light of day (again. I had about 6-ish chapters up back then, but I realized I was never going to finish it and I didn't really like what I was doing with some of the characters. I honestly wonder if anyone remembers it, since there are so many now-deleted fics that I still search for hoping the author had a change of heart... anyways, this is off-topic).
> 
> Again, I don't plan on editing this at all, so I'm not sure if I'm ever going to post the last chapter. 
> 
> And if this is your first time reading this, I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless.


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